4.22.2008

Directed but not Designed

Here's a cool video from 1994 on directed evolution, in which creatures evolve towards a handpicked goal (e.g. live the longest, jump the highest, move the fastest, etc.) A genetic algorithm is used to determine the creature's final form. However, the initial algorithm is only a seed. Across thousands of reduplications of the algorithm, mutations occur at some specified mutation rate. The resulting creature is compared to others in the gene pool against the goal. The worst creatures are eliminated. The concept is simple and the results are unpredictable. But can you say they are designed?